DisneyDarwin
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- May 19, 2000
- Messages
- 268
Cast: DW, DD9 and me (old fart, 41). DD and I are Disney fanatics, DW is an accessory by marriage and tolerates (quite nicely) our Disney addictions.
So, we went on the Cruise from Hell II, 11/23 Western, which wasn't the cruise from hell. It was a fine cruise like any other, with just a few changes due to the health concerns. I've covered those at length elsewhere, and will therefore only focus here on ordinary cruise stuff.
We flew in on Friday about 9pm and I had opted for the Days Inn on McCoy Road. They also own the HoJos next door, which is where we were directed. OK, it was $29/night and sometimes you get what you pay for. In other words, a bit more Spartan than I normally like. And we camp out a lot. We DID really like the German restaurant we found nearby, and the folks in the IHOP where we ate breakfast were the nicest, funnest people we met the entire week --- DCL included!
We rented a car from Avis and drove to the port, around $41 going and $36 coming back. Much cheaper than the DCL transfers (if you have more than 2 people, do the math), plus we got to drive ourselves, go by Walmart, look for manatees, eat at IHOP, and so on (like stop and get ill on the way back --- but that won't happen to you, I hope!).
We did some light shopping in the AM. How is it you can plan and pack for 2 weeks and still leave something behind. In our case, we wanted more batteries, more Bullfrog (not just any sunscreen will do), and a pool float (found a nice one for $10 bucks, take that CC!). We mounted up and got to the port around noon. That was early for this trip, since we couldn't board until 3pm. We went to Shirley's manatee spot, and to the Manatee Park behind the Radisson, but saw none. It was cool and I suspect the weather drove them to their warmest spots elsewhere. Then, wouldn't you know it, from our verandah after boarding we saw two in the harbor! Beautiful animals. Keep your eyes open near the dock.
OK, the hi-light of the trip --- drum roll, please --- was after dinner on the first night. We went out to the aft deck on 7, and watched the shuttle launch at 7:49 PM EST (I think). We weren't that far off shore, and the whole sky lit up. There were only a couple of hundred of us out there, but we yelled and screamed like it was the Super Bowl. What an event! As Fozzy Bear says, "patriotism swells in the heart of the American bear" -- translated, we were proud!
Key West. We went ashore and took the trolley tour. DW and I had done this before, but wanted to do it again as a good way to see the town and show it to DD. At about 2pm, we met our kayak guide, Leo, from Crystal Seas. He drove us north about 20 miles to Sugarloaf, where we took 2 sea kayaks out into the mangrove forests just off shore. We saw lots of birds (my wife is an avid birder), plenty of fish and a few nurse sharks. The trip was very quiet and very pretty, a great nature experience if you are in to that kind of thing. I prefer whitewater canoeing, but enjoyed weaving throught the mangroves and viewing the wildlife and scenery. Leo was a well educated guide, and a very polite and considerate guide. Be forewarned, that on a kayak trip such as this, you actually paddle yourself about. And, you may get tired or a tiny bit wet from paddle splashes. Also, it is VERY salty off shore, and you will beg for a shower afterwards. But, if this kind of trip appeals to you, and you know what you are getting into, you will really enjoy it. We've done the pub crawl thing in KW before, so we liked this as an alternative. My DD9 did very well and was proud of her adventure. Leo got us back to the ship just before our 6pm dinner time. We showered and were only a few minutes late --- we were prompt all the other nights.
Grand Cayman. We were scheduled to do the DCL Atlantis sub tour at 10 AM. We met, we debarked, we got to the sub place, and right before we boarded they told us there was a minor malfunction on the sub and our tour was cancelled. We were sad, but adapted. We jumped in line and booked a tour on their Seaworld Explorer (glass bottomed semi-sub) for 90 minutes later. Then we went shopping. No one had mentioned that their were a bunch of very nice shops close by! We found some nice tropical shirts and dresses, and a fun shop where everything changed colors from sunlight. We had fun shopping and returned, and learned that we could upgrade to the Atlantis sub 15 minutes later --- so we did. We never paid a dime, they just kept transferring our DCL excursion ticket. Now, I don't think anything could have dissuaded me from the sub trip, but I would not do it again. I enjoyed getting in a real sub and going 75 feet down, but I saw more sea life later in the day snorkeling on our Captain Marvin's tour. Use your own judgment.
After the sub tour, we walked briskly to Captain Marvin's, about 3 long blocks away, and had only about a 5 minute wait before the shuttle picked us up. We were driven by a friendly guide to their launch dock. The boat we were going out on returned from its morning cruise late, so we had to wait about 15 minutes. Still, it wasn't long befor we were off. Ricardo was our guide, and was extremely friendly and knowledgable. There were only 5 of us, my family plus another couple from the Magic. We snorkeled at the the Coral Gardens and Ricardo pointed out the homes of the rich and famous. The snorkeling was quite good (although Chankanaab was better), with lots of fish to gawk at. Then on to Stingray City. yes, yes, you've all heard about it, but it's still amazing. Lots of stingrays. Big ones! And you can feed them, touch them , photograph them, etc. They swim around everywhere, come right up to you, gently nudge you, and so on. Oh yeah, they DO bite. Not intentionally, but one got my hand while I was feeding it and raised quite a strawberry. Anyway, this was just incredible even with the strawberry, I strongly recommend it. I also strongly recommend Captain Marvin's as they have been recommended by others. There are other cruise companies, but these folk are friendly, fun, and professional, and they listen to you. We told them we were concerned about being back for the last 4:30pm tender, and they managed our time perfectly and dropped us right at the pier with time to spare.
Speaking of tendering -- it bites. If I took another cruise, I'm sure I'd still be ashore and have to take the 4:30pm tender again. There's a long line and you have to stand and wait to board, and then stand and wait to get on the ship. Get over it. This constitutes taking the good with the bad. Either that, or get done with what you are doing earlier and get back aboard sooner. But, who would want to do that when there is so much fun ashore? Prepare yourself for it and you'll do fine. Oh yeah, we bought more diet coke to take on board to support my rum and diet coke anti-virus routine.
Cozumel. We were some of the first off the ship, and we caught a cab for $10 for all three of us to go to Chankanaab. OK, I feel like a classic tourist saying this, but we loved this place. They keep the place immaculate. Clean bathrooms, clean fountains, we saw workers sweeping the dirt paths (that's right, sweeping the dirt), and cleaning sand out of the foot baths where you rinse the sand off your feet. We saw the bird/sea lion show which is an extra $5 or $10 per head (sorry, I can't remember which). It was about 50 minutes, a bit corny, but quite fun. We all got to hold an adult parrot, which we'd never done before --- kinda neat. We took their walk through "ruin replicas" which was also neat. Then, on to the real deal --- snorkeling. They have a great reef with abundant fish life right off the shore. Great fun, we snorkeled for hours. We all wear glasses and have prescription goggles --- things went much better once we figured out whose goggles were whose! They offered Helmet Diving for $50 per hour and Snuba for $50 per 90 minutes, but we decided we were fine with the snorkeling. They had fresh water showers when we were done, and we walked out tired, but happy. On our walk out we saw dozens of iguanas of different sizes and colors, also very neat. We got at taxi, $10 again, back to the ship.
Directions to taxis from ship: Get off the ship, walk down the pier until you are forced to turn left, turn left and continue until you come to an up escalator, go up, continue walking and you'll meander to your left some more, you'll pass another up escalator on your left, keep going and you will be routed shamelessly by every shop in the joint, finally you will come to a down escalator, take it down and walk straight ahead (away from the main drag) to the rear of the shopping terminal where there are a few acres of parking and a slew of taxis. Negotiate before you get in, and be on your way.
After Chankanaab, Mom reboarded the Magic and headed straight for the shower, while DD and I rented a scooter and went speeding about town. Scooters are EVERYWHERE; we got ours for $20 for an hour, although I heard of others paying $5 more or less. Anyway, we got to see quite a bit more of the town and the coast in that hour, and I highly recommend this cheap outing. Just BE CAREFUL --- there are a lot of one way streets and fast cars and you wouldn't want to get splattered. DD and I had a great time, and had just enough time to get back aboard, and shower up before dinner.
CC. By now, you've all heard all about CC by now, and we agree it is as wonderful as everyone says. We didn't actually get ashore till after 10:30pm. The early morning winds forced us to lap the islands twice before we could get the ship to the dock. Some advice for getting ashore --- take the elevator, not the stairs. The elevator will drop you on deck 1, while the stairs back up to deck 3 or higher! Also, if you want a hammock, you've got to get off early. I tried to get off early, but wasn't quick enough --- they were all gone when I got ashore. I sat near one that had been claimed by someone else intending to lay in it later, but I never got around to it (too busy). I also never saw them in it, for that matter, I never saw them at all! They must have been busy too!
Staff: Our stateroom attendant was Carl Jones. He was so excellent that I wrote a special letter to DCL about him. He helped keep our messy room immaculate, kept my ice bucket bottomless (very important!), and had perfect answers to all my questions. Our server was Jeevan and his asst. was Wilson. I didn't like them so much at first --- our past servers had been a bit more personality, but they grew on me. They did a good job all week, but I still felt like I enjoyed past servers a bit more. Warning -- soapbox follows, to avoid seek next paragraph. Then comes the "survey". Jeevan gave us a mini-lecture on the importance of being "excellent" and I tried not to puke. Herein lies my longstanding complaint with DCL --- everyone can't be Excellent. Can't. Remember the Bell Curve? With few exceptions, there is no 110%, 100 is the maximum, just like infinity, 100 on a test, or 10 on a 1 to 10 scale (unless you're Spinal Tap). These guys were good, just less good than prior servers. That implies room for improvement. Yet if I give them less than an Excellent rating, they may be sacked, lose their livelihood, or even get beheaded. So, I gave them both Excellent ratings, wrote a couple of notes and groused on. A crew of 1000 Excellent employees is ridiculous. I work with good people at my workplace, but they aren't all Excellent. Nor can I think of any place with 1000 Excellent employees. Yet, their livelihood depends on it, and it is beyond clear that almost 100% of them are trying very hard and deserve our applause and should get to continue doing what they are doing. How then does one offer suggestions for improvement? If everyone is to be marked perfect, less dispense with the surveys. OK, I'm done.
Palos. This was our first time at Palos. We didn't attend on our first 4 day Wonder cruise, and DW didn't join us on cruise number 2. Our server, Danibor, was excellent and steered us to foods we enjoyed. Claire had the lamb chops (grande!) and I had the penne pasta special. Both good, but not to die for. The atmosphere and treatment was the thing though. They make you feel special. And then, there is the chocolate souffle. Like the stingrays, it can't be talked about too much --- it is simply wonderful. I'll never cruise again without some. Shoot, I want some now.
Spa. I worked out a couple of mornings, and enjoyed the hot sauna and a shower. On our first sea day I had a great (firm!) full body masssage, followed by an extended stay in the Rain Forest. I like the hot steam room, followed by a cool shower.
Other stuff. I visited Greg and Julie at dueling pianos almost every night. I really enjoyed their shows, but they just weren't as good as the two guys I saw on the Wonder in June 2001. Oh well, things change. They certainly knew their tunes and could play. Good repoirte with the audience too. The shows were all great -- Welcome Aboard, Morty, Herc, Dreams, and the Farewell show, plus the smaller cabaret shows. I'd never seen Morty and really enjoyed that show --- far more than I had been led to believe!! They seem to keep updating Herc with fresh jokes (or maybe my memory sucks), but it was also quite fun. Dreams still distiguishes DCL from all the rest.
I was on the panel from Who Wants to be a Mouseketeer. Someone offered this advice -- "when they ask for volunteers, stand immediately and wave and scream". It works. I had fun and got an exclusive pin that can now be found on ebay! Yes, I'm not a pin collector, but I am a cash collector. But, I didn't do it for the pin (I didn't know about it), I did it to give my DD a laugh -- and succeeded.
Oh yeah, that shoeholder thing is great. I didn't have so much stuff that I thought it would be that useful, but we got one anyway and ended up putting it on the outside of the bathroom door and keeping EVERYTHING in it. $6.99 at Target, and I bet we take it on every long vacation from now on. Some tips are better than others!
That's it, I'm about done. If anyone has any questions about anything we did, I would be happy to embellish or answer questions, as others have helped me. Great cruising everyone.
So, we went on the Cruise from Hell II, 11/23 Western, which wasn't the cruise from hell. It was a fine cruise like any other, with just a few changes due to the health concerns. I've covered those at length elsewhere, and will therefore only focus here on ordinary cruise stuff.
We flew in on Friday about 9pm and I had opted for the Days Inn on McCoy Road. They also own the HoJos next door, which is where we were directed. OK, it was $29/night and sometimes you get what you pay for. In other words, a bit more Spartan than I normally like. And we camp out a lot. We DID really like the German restaurant we found nearby, and the folks in the IHOP where we ate breakfast were the nicest, funnest people we met the entire week --- DCL included!
We rented a car from Avis and drove to the port, around $41 going and $36 coming back. Much cheaper than the DCL transfers (if you have more than 2 people, do the math), plus we got to drive ourselves, go by Walmart, look for manatees, eat at IHOP, and so on (like stop and get ill on the way back --- but that won't happen to you, I hope!).
We did some light shopping in the AM. How is it you can plan and pack for 2 weeks and still leave something behind. In our case, we wanted more batteries, more Bullfrog (not just any sunscreen will do), and a pool float (found a nice one for $10 bucks, take that CC!). We mounted up and got to the port around noon. That was early for this trip, since we couldn't board until 3pm. We went to Shirley's manatee spot, and to the Manatee Park behind the Radisson, but saw none. It was cool and I suspect the weather drove them to their warmest spots elsewhere. Then, wouldn't you know it, from our verandah after boarding we saw two in the harbor! Beautiful animals. Keep your eyes open near the dock.
OK, the hi-light of the trip --- drum roll, please --- was after dinner on the first night. We went out to the aft deck on 7, and watched the shuttle launch at 7:49 PM EST (I think). We weren't that far off shore, and the whole sky lit up. There were only a couple of hundred of us out there, but we yelled and screamed like it was the Super Bowl. What an event! As Fozzy Bear says, "patriotism swells in the heart of the American bear" -- translated, we were proud!
Key West. We went ashore and took the trolley tour. DW and I had done this before, but wanted to do it again as a good way to see the town and show it to DD. At about 2pm, we met our kayak guide, Leo, from Crystal Seas. He drove us north about 20 miles to Sugarloaf, where we took 2 sea kayaks out into the mangrove forests just off shore. We saw lots of birds (my wife is an avid birder), plenty of fish and a few nurse sharks. The trip was very quiet and very pretty, a great nature experience if you are in to that kind of thing. I prefer whitewater canoeing, but enjoyed weaving throught the mangroves and viewing the wildlife and scenery. Leo was a well educated guide, and a very polite and considerate guide. Be forewarned, that on a kayak trip such as this, you actually paddle yourself about. And, you may get tired or a tiny bit wet from paddle splashes. Also, it is VERY salty off shore, and you will beg for a shower afterwards. But, if this kind of trip appeals to you, and you know what you are getting into, you will really enjoy it. We've done the pub crawl thing in KW before, so we liked this as an alternative. My DD9 did very well and was proud of her adventure. Leo got us back to the ship just before our 6pm dinner time. We showered and were only a few minutes late --- we were prompt all the other nights.
Grand Cayman. We were scheduled to do the DCL Atlantis sub tour at 10 AM. We met, we debarked, we got to the sub place, and right before we boarded they told us there was a minor malfunction on the sub and our tour was cancelled. We were sad, but adapted. We jumped in line and booked a tour on their Seaworld Explorer (glass bottomed semi-sub) for 90 minutes later. Then we went shopping. No one had mentioned that their were a bunch of very nice shops close by! We found some nice tropical shirts and dresses, and a fun shop where everything changed colors from sunlight. We had fun shopping and returned, and learned that we could upgrade to the Atlantis sub 15 minutes later --- so we did. We never paid a dime, they just kept transferring our DCL excursion ticket. Now, I don't think anything could have dissuaded me from the sub trip, but I would not do it again. I enjoyed getting in a real sub and going 75 feet down, but I saw more sea life later in the day snorkeling on our Captain Marvin's tour. Use your own judgment.
After the sub tour, we walked briskly to Captain Marvin's, about 3 long blocks away, and had only about a 5 minute wait before the shuttle picked us up. We were driven by a friendly guide to their launch dock. The boat we were going out on returned from its morning cruise late, so we had to wait about 15 minutes. Still, it wasn't long befor we were off. Ricardo was our guide, and was extremely friendly and knowledgable. There were only 5 of us, my family plus another couple from the Magic. We snorkeled at the the Coral Gardens and Ricardo pointed out the homes of the rich and famous. The snorkeling was quite good (although Chankanaab was better), with lots of fish to gawk at. Then on to Stingray City. yes, yes, you've all heard about it, but it's still amazing. Lots of stingrays. Big ones! And you can feed them, touch them , photograph them, etc. They swim around everywhere, come right up to you, gently nudge you, and so on. Oh yeah, they DO bite. Not intentionally, but one got my hand while I was feeding it and raised quite a strawberry. Anyway, this was just incredible even with the strawberry, I strongly recommend it. I also strongly recommend Captain Marvin's as they have been recommended by others. There are other cruise companies, but these folk are friendly, fun, and professional, and they listen to you. We told them we were concerned about being back for the last 4:30pm tender, and they managed our time perfectly and dropped us right at the pier with time to spare.
Speaking of tendering -- it bites. If I took another cruise, I'm sure I'd still be ashore and have to take the 4:30pm tender again. There's a long line and you have to stand and wait to board, and then stand and wait to get on the ship. Get over it. This constitutes taking the good with the bad. Either that, or get done with what you are doing earlier and get back aboard sooner. But, who would want to do that when there is so much fun ashore? Prepare yourself for it and you'll do fine. Oh yeah, we bought more diet coke to take on board to support my rum and diet coke anti-virus routine.
Cozumel. We were some of the first off the ship, and we caught a cab for $10 for all three of us to go to Chankanaab. OK, I feel like a classic tourist saying this, but we loved this place. They keep the place immaculate. Clean bathrooms, clean fountains, we saw workers sweeping the dirt paths (that's right, sweeping the dirt), and cleaning sand out of the foot baths where you rinse the sand off your feet. We saw the bird/sea lion show which is an extra $5 or $10 per head (sorry, I can't remember which). It was about 50 minutes, a bit corny, but quite fun. We all got to hold an adult parrot, which we'd never done before --- kinda neat. We took their walk through "ruin replicas" which was also neat. Then, on to the real deal --- snorkeling. They have a great reef with abundant fish life right off the shore. Great fun, we snorkeled for hours. We all wear glasses and have prescription goggles --- things went much better once we figured out whose goggles were whose! They offered Helmet Diving for $50 per hour and Snuba for $50 per 90 minutes, but we decided we were fine with the snorkeling. They had fresh water showers when we were done, and we walked out tired, but happy. On our walk out we saw dozens of iguanas of different sizes and colors, also very neat. We got at taxi, $10 again, back to the ship.
Directions to taxis from ship: Get off the ship, walk down the pier until you are forced to turn left, turn left and continue until you come to an up escalator, go up, continue walking and you'll meander to your left some more, you'll pass another up escalator on your left, keep going and you will be routed shamelessly by every shop in the joint, finally you will come to a down escalator, take it down and walk straight ahead (away from the main drag) to the rear of the shopping terminal where there are a few acres of parking and a slew of taxis. Negotiate before you get in, and be on your way.
After Chankanaab, Mom reboarded the Magic and headed straight for the shower, while DD and I rented a scooter and went speeding about town. Scooters are EVERYWHERE; we got ours for $20 for an hour, although I heard of others paying $5 more or less. Anyway, we got to see quite a bit more of the town and the coast in that hour, and I highly recommend this cheap outing. Just BE CAREFUL --- there are a lot of one way streets and fast cars and you wouldn't want to get splattered. DD and I had a great time, and had just enough time to get back aboard, and shower up before dinner.
CC. By now, you've all heard all about CC by now, and we agree it is as wonderful as everyone says. We didn't actually get ashore till after 10:30pm. The early morning winds forced us to lap the islands twice before we could get the ship to the dock. Some advice for getting ashore --- take the elevator, not the stairs. The elevator will drop you on deck 1, while the stairs back up to deck 3 or higher! Also, if you want a hammock, you've got to get off early. I tried to get off early, but wasn't quick enough --- they were all gone when I got ashore. I sat near one that had been claimed by someone else intending to lay in it later, but I never got around to it (too busy). I also never saw them in it, for that matter, I never saw them at all! They must have been busy too!
Staff: Our stateroom attendant was Carl Jones. He was so excellent that I wrote a special letter to DCL about him. He helped keep our messy room immaculate, kept my ice bucket bottomless (very important!), and had perfect answers to all my questions. Our server was Jeevan and his asst. was Wilson. I didn't like them so much at first --- our past servers had been a bit more personality, but they grew on me. They did a good job all week, but I still felt like I enjoyed past servers a bit more. Warning -- soapbox follows, to avoid seek next paragraph. Then comes the "survey". Jeevan gave us a mini-lecture on the importance of being "excellent" and I tried not to puke. Herein lies my longstanding complaint with DCL --- everyone can't be Excellent. Can't. Remember the Bell Curve? With few exceptions, there is no 110%, 100 is the maximum, just like infinity, 100 on a test, or 10 on a 1 to 10 scale (unless you're Spinal Tap). These guys were good, just less good than prior servers. That implies room for improvement. Yet if I give them less than an Excellent rating, they may be sacked, lose their livelihood, or even get beheaded. So, I gave them both Excellent ratings, wrote a couple of notes and groused on. A crew of 1000 Excellent employees is ridiculous. I work with good people at my workplace, but they aren't all Excellent. Nor can I think of any place with 1000 Excellent employees. Yet, their livelihood depends on it, and it is beyond clear that almost 100% of them are trying very hard and deserve our applause and should get to continue doing what they are doing. How then does one offer suggestions for improvement? If everyone is to be marked perfect, less dispense with the surveys. OK, I'm done.
Palos. This was our first time at Palos. We didn't attend on our first 4 day Wonder cruise, and DW didn't join us on cruise number 2. Our server, Danibor, was excellent and steered us to foods we enjoyed. Claire had the lamb chops (grande!) and I had the penne pasta special. Both good, but not to die for. The atmosphere and treatment was the thing though. They make you feel special. And then, there is the chocolate souffle. Like the stingrays, it can't be talked about too much --- it is simply wonderful. I'll never cruise again without some. Shoot, I want some now.
Spa. I worked out a couple of mornings, and enjoyed the hot sauna and a shower. On our first sea day I had a great (firm!) full body masssage, followed by an extended stay in the Rain Forest. I like the hot steam room, followed by a cool shower.
Other stuff. I visited Greg and Julie at dueling pianos almost every night. I really enjoyed their shows, but they just weren't as good as the two guys I saw on the Wonder in June 2001. Oh well, things change. They certainly knew their tunes and could play. Good repoirte with the audience too. The shows were all great -- Welcome Aboard, Morty, Herc, Dreams, and the Farewell show, plus the smaller cabaret shows. I'd never seen Morty and really enjoyed that show --- far more than I had been led to believe!! They seem to keep updating Herc with fresh jokes (or maybe my memory sucks), but it was also quite fun. Dreams still distiguishes DCL from all the rest.
I was on the panel from Who Wants to be a Mouseketeer. Someone offered this advice -- "when they ask for volunteers, stand immediately and wave and scream". It works. I had fun and got an exclusive pin that can now be found on ebay! Yes, I'm not a pin collector, but I am a cash collector. But, I didn't do it for the pin (I didn't know about it), I did it to give my DD a laugh -- and succeeded.
Oh yeah, that shoeholder thing is great. I didn't have so much stuff that I thought it would be that useful, but we got one anyway and ended up putting it on the outside of the bathroom door and keeping EVERYTHING in it. $6.99 at Target, and I bet we take it on every long vacation from now on. Some tips are better than others!
That's it, I'm about done. If anyone has any questions about anything we did, I would be happy to embellish or answer questions, as others have helped me. Great cruising everyone.
